The present disclosure relates to an electric charging apparatus and a failure determination method therefor, and more particularly, to an electric charging apparatus for a vehicle which detects a vibration of a relay to generate an acceleration sensing signal and receives the acceleration sensing signal to detect a failure in the electric charging apparatus, and a failure determination method therefor.
As global environmental pollution is worsening, use of non-polluting energy is getting more important. Especially, air pollution problems in a metropolitan area are worsening day by day, and an exhaust gas is one of the main causes of them. Under such a situation, recently researches are being actively performed on commercializing a so-called electric vehicle using the electricity, which is nonpolluting energy, as a power source. The electric vehicle receives electric energy from the outside and charges a battery with it, and then uses a voltage charged in the battery to obtain power, which is mechanical energy, through a motor combined with wheels. That is, since the motor is driven by the voltage charged in the battery, the electric vehicle uses a large capacity rechargeable battery and includes an electric charging apparatus for charging the large capacity rechargeable battery.
An electric charging apparatus is divided into a rapid charger and a slow charger. The rapid charger is installed at a place for rapidly charging a battery during driving like a gas station. Charging time thereof takes about 20 min. On the contrary, the slow charger is installed at a place, such as a parking lot or a shopping mall, where long time parking is expected. Charging time thereof takes about 5 hours.
Such an electric charging apparatus includes a relay, and failures may occur in the relay such that the relay may be fused due to overcurrent or other causes during charging a charging target device.
However, it is difficult that a typical electric charging apparatus may detect such failures.